Archive Of The Legendary Grateful Dead Moves Online

The word “deadhead” can apply to gardening and sunken logs, but also to the legions of fans who followed the concerts and travels of the Grateful Dead, the US rock band formed in the 1960s whose remarkable creative activity and influence in contemporary music history is legendary. In June, the Grateful Dead Archive (GDA) documenting the band’s 30-year history (1965-1995) was made public for the first time.

If you are a Deadhead, you won’t want to miss the opportunity on Oct. 12 to hear Robin L. Chandler, associate university librarian at the University of California, Santa Cruz and the archivist who assisted in the GDA’s digitization and creation of the project website speak at UVic. The GDA was launched after band members Mickey Hart and Bob Weir announced the band would donate its archives to UC Santa Cruz in 2008.

Several years in the making, the Grateful Dead Archive Online (http://www.gdao.org/) boasts nearly 24,000 items and over 50,000 scans showcasing thousands of photographs, fanzines, and posters as well as scans of artifacts, including fan-decorated envelopes sent in by Deadheads who wrote to request tickets for shows. Considered a socially constructed website, users can tag items, leave comments and submit their own photos and memories.

This public talk is co-sponsored by UVic Libraries, UVic’s Faculty of Fine Arts, and the Greater Victoria Public Library.

       “Archive of the Legendary Grateful Dead Moves Online”
       Free Public Talk
       Friday, October 12 from 5:30 to 7:00 p.m.
       Cinecenta (in UVic's Student Union Building)
       Parking info and maps are available at www.uvic.ca/maps
 

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